Curved-molding machine



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J. WHITE. OURVED MOLDING MACHINE.

No. 438,191. Patented July 29, 1890.

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J. WHITE.

GURVED MOLDING MACHINE. No. 433,191. Patented July 29,1890.

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J. WHITE. GURVED MOLDING MACHINE.

No. 433,191. Patented July 29, 1890.

J'L ZeJZ I w/m hfox UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES VIIITE, OF BROOKLYN, NE\V YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE VULCAN COMPANY, OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CURVED-MOLDING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,191, dated July 29, 1890.

Application filed May 13, 1889. Serial No. 310,677. (No model.)

To aZl whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, JAMES \VHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, Kings county, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Curved- Molding Machines, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to effect the shaping of sheet metal into curved moldings and ornaments of various kinds with three dies only, instead of the four that have here tofore been used. In forming curved moldings from sheet metal the material is altered in two essential respects, as itis first changed in profile by counterpart dies of the desired shape, and thereby tranformed from a flat sheet of metal into a molding, and, secondly, bent longitudinally to give the molding a curvature in the desired direction, in which operation the sheet metal upon one side of the molding is stretched more than that upon the other. My invention is based upon the discovery that it is not necessary in order to impart the desired profile or cross-section to the molding that the shaping-die should be opposed by a counterpart die and the sheet metal compressed between them, but that a single die arranged intermediate to two others opposed thereto may be operated to change the cross-section of the material and simultaneously bend it into the curve desired. In United States patent,No. 171,917, dated January 11, 1876, two dies are shown arranged to press the metal directlybetween them with lateral dies, termed guides in the patent, adapted to vary at pleasure the curvature of the sheet metal, while the central dies operate to alter its profile. Such machine requires four dies 5 but I have discovered that a portion of the dies heretofore used maybe dispensed with by operating the dies out of alignment with one another and sustaining the sheet metal upon two dies placed the desired distance apart, with a third one pressed upon the opposite side of the metal intermediate to its points of support. 3y such a construction the metal is gradually conformed to the desired shape, and I wholly avoid the formed to shape the sheet-metal molding into the desired cross-section, and the pressure upon the metal between the two lateral dies, which form the only points of support in my invention, bends it to the desired curvature, while the projecting portions of the dies at the same time indent and shape the molding to the desired profile. The central or the two lateral opposed dies may be fixed and the other movable, and in practice the movable die or dies would be reciprocated by power and provided with suitable adjustments.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of a machine provided with my improvement; and Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, the single die being connected with the movable shank. Fig. 3 represents an alternative construction, in which the single die is shown as stationary and the two bearing-dies are attached to the movable shank. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing three dies and a side view of the carrier with the shank removed from its socket and the die-holders pivoted upon slides in the carrier. Fig. 5 is a view of the carrier and die-holders from the under side. Fig. 6 is a view of the front side of a powermachine Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the same, with the vibrating head in section, through the center of the shank; and Fig. 8 is a plan of the head with its guides. In

Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the shank is shown without the attachments, to operate the movable die continuously, being provided with only a knob, which may be struck to drive the movable die forcibly toward the fixed die or dies; butFigs. 6 and7 show the machineprovided with a pulley to receivea driving-belt, so that it may be operated by power, which is the only way in which it can be successfully used in practice, as the sheet metal under the conditions to which it is subjected in. my device requires a rapid percussion from a vibrating tool to simultaneously bend and shape the same.

In Figs-1 and 2, a is the bed of the ma chine, formed with dovetailgroove b, in which i are fitted movable die-holders 0, containing the two lateral dies 0. These dies are preferably connected by a right and left hand screw 3, the head of which 3' is fitted for a wrench, as shown in the drawings, or provided with means for turning it. The dies are fitted to the respective rightv and left threads at equal distances from the central .point and may thus be adjusted to and from one another at pleasure.

d is the central movable die fixed in a holder 61, attached to the end of a shank 6, made square and fitted movably to a vertical socket f over the dies 0, intermediate to the same. A spring g is provided to hold the shank and the die 61 normally upward, and a head h is formed upon the shank to receive a blow for depressing the movable die at pleasure. Lock-nuts t' are fitted to the shank above the socket f to limit the downward movement, and thus regulate the degree to which the movable die impresses the metal.

The device is operated by laying the metal (represented by the dotted line m in Fig. 1) upon the lower dies and repeatedly pressing the upper die upon the metal by percussion.

In Fig. 2 the dies are shown of profile to form an ogee molding, and in Fig. 1 the fixed dies 0 are shown adjusted in such relation to the lock-nuts 'L' that the metal while being shaped by the profiles of the dies is also curved into an arch, as indicated by the line m. The apparatus thus simultaneously shapes the metal into a molding and imparts a curvature of any desired radius to the same.

In Fig. 3 the central die (1 is shown fixed upon the bed, and the two lateral dies are movable with a carrier 71;, which is shown affixed to the shank e. Thelateral dies would in such case be adjusted upon the carrier in the same manner as described in connection with the bed C6 in Fig. 1, or by any other suitable means, so as to operate upon the metal in the most advantageous manner, the metal being supported upon the central die and struck by the two dies above it to shape it as required.

Fig. 4 represents the carrier with its shank e removed from the socket f and pro vided with die-holders pivoted upon slides which are fitted to the right and left hand screw in the carrier. The dies are shown moved nearly into contact with one another, and the lower die is represented opposite to the same and made of greater width than the upper die, to press upon both at once in producing the desired profile upon the sheet metal pressed between them. It is obvious that if the two lateral dies 0 were always separated there would be no way to profileastrip of metal without curving the same, as indicated by the dotted line min Fig. 1; and I therefore prefer a construction in which the lateral dies can be brought close together, so that the opposed die d may co-operate with both of them at once in shaping the sheet metal to the desired profile. By such arrangement of the lateral dies, and especially by using an opposed die of suitable width, I am enabled to bend the sheet metal into the desired profile with any degree of force, and may afterward impart to it any curvature that is desired, thus securing an additional function in the lateral dies by moving them close together, and thus transforming them into shaping-dies only without any bending function.

To impart a lateral curvature to the metal or to operate upon segmental pieces of metal is the object of the pivotal construction for the dieholders 0'. (Shown in Fig. 4.)

Fig. 5 represents the under side of the carrier h, showing the slides c separated more than in Fig. 4, with the die-holder ct pivoted thereon by bolts 0 and the dies inclined at an angle to operate upon sheet metal of segmental shape, as indicated by the dotted line p. The opposed die would operate midway between the swiveled dies, and by pressing the same upon both of them simultaneously would gradually bend the sheet metal to the desired profile in a segmental curve.

WVhen the lateral dies are in my constructionswiveled and the opposed die pressed upon the sheet metal midway between them, there is no direct impact between the dies to shape the sheet metal; but the sheet metal is shaped by the joint pressure at different points of the surfaces of all three dies at the same time.

The views shown in Figs. 6 to 8, inclusive, represent suitable means for vibrating the die (1 rapidly to and from the opposed dies. The bed A is provided with a goose-neck standard a, sustaining guides f, in which a head g is reciprocated by a lever w, and rotating crank-pin w, attached to a shaft '0. The shaft is supported in a bearing '0 upon the bed and provided with a pulley w to receive a driving-belt. By this construction or any other suitable means the movable die or dies may be vibrated rapidly in contact with the sheet metal. The screw upon the upper part of the shank e is shown fitted to a movable sleeve e tapped into the head g and provided with a band-wheel a by which the movable die may be adjusted to and from the sheet metal while in operation.

The dies in Figs. 6 and 7 are represented with counterpart profiles adapted to form an ogee molding, the projecting points upon one die matching the depressions upon the opposite die or dies, so as to force the sheet metal to yield upon lines in which it receives no support from the opposite dies, although the latter are not opposed directly to the pressure of the movable die.

In the drawings each of the dies is shown formed at its base with a transverse cylindrical pin 1, held adjustably in a socket Z by a screw n, to permit its adjustment at any desired vertical angle; but it is immaterial to myinvention how the dies are mounted, as

the essential feature is the use of two dies upon one side of the metal and one die upon the opposite side operating to bend the sheet metal as required.

From the above description it will be seen that the arrangement of one die intermediate I and opposite to two other dies secures several (lies without curving the molding, while the angular arrangement of the two lateral dies, as shown in Fig. 5, enables them to change the cross-section of the material and at the same time to form a segmental molding.

I am aware that the various adjustments necessary to operate the dies have been heretofore used in other machines; and I do not therefore claim the adjusting of any of the dies to and from one another nor the setting of them in angular relations to one another. Thus it is common in machines for bending tires, pipes, and shafting to arrange one die intermediate to two opposed dies and press it toward the same for the mere bending of the bar between the dies; but in such eonstructions the dies are never shaped or employed to alter the cross-section of the bar that is bent between them, and do not there-.

fore perform the double function of my dies in shaping the metal transversely and bending it longitudinally at the same time.

I am not aware that any construction has ever provided two dies opposed to a single die and adapted for placing close together in opposition to the single die, so as to operate in making a straight molding while the same dies were adapted to form a curved molding by their mere separation from one another.

I hereby disclaim the aforesaid patent, No. 171,917, dated January 11, 1876.

Having thus set forth my invention and distinguished it from others, what I claim is 1. In a curved-molding machine adapted to curve the sheet metal longitudinally and to simultaneously change its cross-section, the combination and arrangement of three profile-dies, two being upon one side of the sheet metal and the other upon the opposite side intermediate thereto, the opposed dies having contrary profiles tomake them counterparts of one another and formed to shape the sheet metal in the desired cross-section, and the die or dies upon one side of the sheet metal being fixed and the die or dies upon the opposite side arranged to be vibrated rapidly to and from the same,but out of vertical alignment therewith, to simultaneously bend the sheet metal and alter its cross-section, substantially as herein set forth.

2. In a curved-molding machine adapted to curve the sheet metal longitudinally and to simultaneously change its cross-section, the combination and arrangement of three profile-dies, two being upon one side of the sheet metal and the other upon the opposite side intermediate thereto, the opposed dies having contrary profiles and being formed to shape the sheet metal in the desired crosssection, and the dies upon one side of the sheet metal being movable into close contact with one another opposite to the single die, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES WHITE.

Witnesses:

HENRY W. EATON, J. W. RHODES. 

